Excavating machine



May 8, 1934. L. P. GREEN EXCAVATING MACHINE original Filed sept. 17.1930 4 sheets-sheet' 1 QN @Nv wfbliilqmnlmmrll\ QN NN I May 8,` 1934. 1p GREEN I 1,958,269

EXCAVATING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 17. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 nueMay 8, i934. P. GREEN EXCAVATING MACHINE Original Filed Sept. 17, 1950me/dwf.'- re 977/' May 8, 1934. l.. P. GREEN EXCAVATING MACHINE GrignalFilled Sept. 17. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 \QN \J\c 1| mx ma@ uw m6 k@ @A ENm N InTlJf. mV A Q .mm

Patented May 8, 1934 UNITED STATES EXCAVATING MACHINE Leslie P. Green,Chicago, Ill., assignor to Archie M. Holland, Youngstown, OhioApplication September 17, 1930, Serial No. 482,528

. Renewed October 4, 1933 16 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in excavating machines and has forits primary ob- -ject, the provision of an improved machine of thischaracter which is of simple construction and highly ecient in use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a machine of thischaracter adapted and arranged to operate in a minimum of space.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved machineof this character adapted and arranged to dig a tunnel or passagewayunder ground.

Other objects will appear hereinafter..

The invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of partshereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification and in which Fig. 1 is aside view illustrating a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 a partial side View of the front or forward portion of saidmachine showing the position of the parts when the excavator scoop orbucket is elevated into dumping position;

Fig. 3 a front View corresponding with Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 a front view of a modified form ofnconstruction correspondingwith Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the modified form ofconstruction shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the said modified form ofconstruction in dumping position;

Fig. 'l a partial side view of the forward portion of another modifiedform of construction;

Fig. 8 a diagrammatic view illustrating the path or orbit of movement ofthe excavator scoop shown in Fig. 1 in actual operation;

Fig. 9 a lpartial longitudinal section of the forv ward portion ofanother modied form of construction; and

Fig. 10 a partial plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 9. e

The embodiment of the invention illustrated 1n Figs. 1, 2 and 3comprises a suitable supporting platform 11, mounted for travel uponsuitable tractors 12 and equipped with a suitable engine or other motivepower 13 connected by sprocket chain 14 with a main driving or powershaft 15, mounted in suitable brackets v16 upon the platform 11. Thepower shaft 15 is connected-by sprocket chain 17 with a counter shaft 18connected by sprocket chain 19 with an endless belt conveyor 20,arranged in upwardly and rearwardly inclined position on the platform1l, as

shown. Associated with and surrounding the lower forward end of theconveyor 20 is a hopper 21, having an inclined forward end 22, saidhop-V per being open at its bottom and rear side.` so that any materialdeposited therein will be deposited directly upon the endlessbelt\conveyor 20. The endless belt conveyor 20 is operated to convey anymaterial deposited in the hopper 21 upwardly and rearwardly and todischarge the' same by gravity at the upper rear end of the machine.Obviously, a truck, car or other suitable conveyance may be placed toreceive the material discharged from the upper end of the conveyor 20,as will be readily understood by those skilled in this art.

A sprocket chain 23 is also connected with the power shaft 15 and withanother counter shaft 24 mounted in suitable supporting bars 25, sup`ported on standards 26 and 27 on the platform 11. The counter shaft 24carries two pinions 28 .75

meshing with gears 29 on a counter shaft 30,

mounted at the upper ends of the supporting bars 25. Two gears 31meshing with gears 29 are mounted on a counter shaft 32, supported bylinks 33 arranged to swing about the counter shaft 30 and carrying thegears 31 with them. An adjusting bar 34 is pivotally connected at oneend with one of the links 33, and at its other end with thecorresponding supporting bar 25 by means of a bolt 35 adapted andarranged to engage various bolt holes in the adjusting bar 34 andwhereby the angular positions of the gears 31 relatively to the gears 29may be adjusted as desired.

Thegears 31 carry radially projecting arms 36 vpivotally and adjustablyconnected with lever arms 37 by `means of bolts 38 adapted and arrangedto engage one of a seriesof holes in the corresponding arms 36, so thatthe radial mounting of the arms 3'7 may be adjusted as desired. Rigidlysecured between the lever arms 37 is a scoop or excavator bucket 39having a forward digging side 40 and a hoppered rear side 41, andinwardly and upwardly inclined hopper leaves 42 at its top. Thearrangement is such that when the excavator scoop or bucket is swungupwardly, forwardly and then rearwardly into the position indicated inFig. 2, the material gathered thereby will be deposited in the hopper 21and thence removed by the endless belt conveyor 20, as explained above.

At their rear ends, the levers 37 are pivotally and adjustably connectedwith links 43 by means of bolts 44 engaging through a plurality of boltholes, as shown. At their upper'ends, the links 43 are likewisepivotally and adjustably connected with radial arms on the gears 29, bymeans of bolts 46 engaging through a series of bolt holes, as indicated.By this arrangement, as the gears 29 and 31 are caused to rotate in thedirections of the arrows in Fig. 1, the excavator scoop 39 will becaused to swing first upwardly and for?1 wardly and then upwardly and.rearwardly into the position indicated in Fig. 2, thereby digging up orexcavating material in front of the machine and depositing it in thehopper 21, as will be readily understood. Upon continued movement of thegears 29 and 31, the excavator scoop 39 will be' returned to originalposition, said excavator scoop being thereby caused to travel through aclosed curve or orbit. In Fig. 8, I have illustrated diagrammaticallythe closed curve or orbit which the point 47 on one side of theexcavator scoop 39 will traverse during a complete operation of theexcavator scoop. It will thus be seen that theA arrangement is such thatthe excavator scoop 39, through continuous rotations of the gears 29 and31, will be caused -to travel through the orbit 48 and therebyautomatically ll itself with material from in front of the machine anddeposit said material in the hopper 2l without reversing the movement ofany of the parts and without opening or tripping any of the sides of theexcavator scoop, said scoop being thereby automatically made todischarge its contents through the action of gravity. By adjusting theangular position of the gears 29 and 31 by means of the adjusting bar34, and by adjusting the pivotal connections of the levers 37 and thelinks 43, the closed curve or orbit of movement of the excavator scoopmay be varied considerably to meet various conditions of use. Likewise,by making the excavator scoop 39 as wide or a little wider than theplatform 11 and associated parts. a tunnel or passage-way may beexcavated which will accommodate and permit the entry of the machineitself, thereby permitting of continuous excavating operations andconvenient and efficient tunneling when desired.

Obviously, also, gears 29 and 31 and the bars and links supporting andcontrolling the movement of the scoop may be arranged between thesupporting bars 25 and supporting links 33 and a similar assembly ofparts can be arranged outside of each of the last said supporting barsand links. each operating an additional scoop on each out side and thelatter scoop and operating parts may be adjusted to load at theapproximate time the center scoop is discharging its load.

In the modined form of construction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, thecounter shaft 24 is mounted as shown in a different and higher positionand the gears 31 are mounted upon swinging arms 49 carrying at theirlower ends a counter shaft 50 which, in turn, carries gears 51 meshingwith the gears 3l, as best shown in Fig. 5. The excavator Y ins scoop 39is canied by lever arms 52 pivoted at 53 on crank pins carried by thegears 51. As shown, a plurality of holes 53' are provided in gears 51 toreceive crank pin 53 and permit of correspondadjustments of said crankpins and the fulcrums of levers .52'. The upper rear ends of the levers52 are pivotally and adjustably connected with links 54 by means ofbolts the upper ends of the links 54 are pivotally connected with crankpins 56 adjustable in holes 56' in the sides of the gears 31.* The arms49 carry rearwardly and downwardly projecting studs 57 pivotallyconnected with the forwardends of links 58 which are adjustably andpivotally connected at their rear ends to studs 59, adjustably mountedon the lower ends of links 60 pivoted at 61 on the 55, as shown, and

frame of themachine. Additional links 62 are adjustably and pivotallyconnected at their lower ends with the studs 59 and pivotally connectedat their upper ends with crank pins 63 adjustable in holes 63 in thegears 29. By this arrangement, the gears 51 and 31 will operate verymuch as did the gears 31 and 29 to cause snooping operations of theexcavator scoop 39 but, at the same time, the co-operating gears 51 and31 will be caused to oscillate about the gears 29 by virtue of theoperation of the crank pin 63, thereby imparting to the excavator scoop39 additional forwardly hori-l zontal movement when loading andadditional rearward movement when discharging, resulting in a diierentform of orbit from that illustrated in Fig. 8, but at the same timecausing said excavator scoop to pick up material from in front of themachine and deposit it in the hopper 21, as before. This form ofapplication of the invention, while somewhat more complicated than thatillustrated in Fig. 1, will have a wider range of adjustment and a widerileld of action than said construction.

In the form of construction illustrated in Fig 7, the same gears 29, 31and 51 are employed as in the construction illustrated in Fig. 5, butsaid gears are mounted upon angular supporting arms 49 instead of uponthe straight supporting arms 49, thus permitting of a slightly diiIerentadjustment and arrangement of the excavator scoop. In this arrangement,also, the studs 57' assume somewhat different positions from the studs57, and the links 38' assume somewhat diiIerent positions from the links58 in the former construction. The link 62 has been entirely omitted andan adjusting lever 64 having an upward curved extension 65 connectingwith the rearward end ofthe link 58'. The adjusting arm 85 is connectedwith an adjusting rod 66 by means of which the angular relation betweenthe gears 31 and 29 may be varied, and thereby the orbit of theexcavator scoop correspondingly varied. Otherwise, the construction andoperation is substantially the same as the construction illustrated inFig. 5.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, an excavating shovel67 provided with a forward digging edge 68. retaining sides 69, and anopen rear end 70, is pivotally mounted at 71 at the lower ends of links72 pivotally and adjustably mounted by means' of bolts 73 at the upperends of supporting bars 74 of the frame of the machine. The shovel 67 isalso pivotally supported at point 75 between radial arms 76 adjustablysecured by bolts 77 to the outer sides of discs 78, mounted on trunnions79 on the platform 11. The discs.78 are driven by sprocket chains 82from the main power shaft of the machine, as will be readily understood.By this arrangement, upon rotation of the discs 78, the shovel 67 willbe caused to'swing forwardly and upwardly into position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 9, thereby digging up or excavating any material from infront of the belt conveyor 20, as will be readily understood. Thisconstruction constitutes'a simple and effective shoveling machineadapted to operate in close quarters in tunneling or other excavatingoperations, as will be readily understood by those skilled in this art.

In the accompanying drawings 'and speinciv tion, I have illustrated anddescribed my invention in a simplified machine as a whole. It isobvious, however, that the assembly of parts and frame work directlyconnected with the scoop can be movably mounted on the platform 11,providing a reasonable range of operation right and left and forward ofthe machine without moving the entire machine. Likewise, a secondconveyor may be adjustably mounted on the rear of the machine providingfor a reasonable range of delivery of the material to a greaterelevation or to the right or left of the machine, as desired. Also, itis to be noted that by reversing the scoop and the direction of thetravel of the scoop and operating mechanism, the material would bedragged downward and that by mounting a similar assembly of parts abovethe assembly of parts described, rotating the upper assembly of parts inan opposite direction, the latter would drag material downward to ll theelevating scoop.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable ofvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modifications as come within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. Excavating apparatus comprising a suitable platform; a pair of firstgears operatively mounted on said platform; a pair of second gearsintermeshing with said first gears and mounted to revolve about thesame; means for adjusting the angular positions of said second gearswith relation to said rst gears; crank arms adjustablysecured to saidgears and projecting radially therefrom; crank pins adjustably mountedon said crank arms; a pair of levers pivotally and adjustably mounted onthe crank arms of said second gears; an excavator scoop mounted betweenthe protruding ends of said levers; links adjustablyand pivotallyconnected with the other ends of said levers and with the crank arms onsaid rst gears; and means on said platform for operating said rst gears.

2. Excavating apparatus comprising a platform; a pair of rst gearsyoperatively mounted on said platform; a pair of second gearsintermeshing with said rst gears and mounted to revolve about the same;a pair of third gears intermeshing with said second gears and mounted torevolve therewith; crank pins on said gears; an operative connectionbetween the crank pin on said rst gears and the mounting of said secondand third' gears arranged and adapted to oscillate said mounting aboutsaid first gears; a pair of levers mounted on the crank pins of saidthird gears; a scoop mounted between the protruding ends of said levers;links connecting the other ends of. said levers with the crank pins onsaid second gears; and means for operating said first gears. v

3. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carry.' nga crank pin; a lever fulcrumed on one of said crank pins; a linkconnecting the other of said crank pins with said lever; and means formoving one of said crank pins in addition to its said rotating movement.

4. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carrying acrank pin; a lever fulcrumed on one of said crank pins; a linkconnecting the other of said crank p 'ns with said lever; and means formoving both of said crank pins in addition to their said rotatingmovements.

5. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carrying acrank pin; a lever iulcrumed on one of said crank pins; a linkconnecting the other of said crank pins with said lever; and means foroscillating one of said crank pins in addit'on to its said rotatingmovement.

6. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carrying acrank pin; a lever fu`.crumed on one of said crank pins; a linkconnecting the other of said crank pins with said lever; and means foroscillating both of said crank pins in addition to their said rotatingmovements.

7. Excavating apparatus comprising twointermeshing gears each carrying acrank pin; a lever fulcrumed on one of said crank pins; a linkconnecting the other of said crank pins with said lever; and means formoving one of said crank pns in addition to its said rotating movement.

8. Excavating apparatus comprising two intermeshing gears each carryinga crank pin; a lever fulcrumed on one of said crank pins; a linkconnecting the other of said crank pins with said lever; and means foroscillating both of said crank pins in addition to their said rotatingmovements.

9. Excavating apparatus comprising two intermeshing gears each carryinga crank pin, one of which is mounted to revolve in a circle outside theperiphery of its gear; a lever fulcrumed on one of said crank pins; anda link connecting the other of said crank pins with said lever.

10. Excavating apparatus comprising two intermeshing gears each carryinga crank pin mounted to revolve in a circle outside the periphery of itsgear; a lever fulcrumed on one of said crank pins; and a link connectingthe other of said crank pins with said lever.

11. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carryinga crank pin and one mounted on an axis in a plane below that of theother; a lever fulcrumed on the lower of said crank pins; a linkconnecting one end of said lever with the upper of said crank pins; andan excavator scoopcarried by the other end of said lever.

12. Excavating apparatus comprising two r0- tating elements eachcarrying a crank pin and one mounted on an axis in a plane below that ofthe other; a lever fulcrumed on the lower of said crank pins; a linkconnecting one end of said lever with the upper of said crank pins; anexcavator` scoop carried by the other end of said lever; and conveyingmechanism arranged with its receiving end to the rear of the verticalthrough the axis of the lower of said rotating elements and co-operatingwith said scoop at its dumping position to remove the dumpingstherefrom.

13. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carryinga crank pin and one mounted on an axis in a plane below that of theother, the lower of said elements being circumferentially adjustablewith reference to the other; a lever fulcrumed on the lower of saidcrank pins; a link connecting one end of said lever with the upper ofsaid crank pins; and an excavator scoop carried by the other end of sadlever.

14. Excavating apparatus comprising two rotating elements each carryinga crank pin and one mounted on an axis in a plane below that of theother, the lower of said elements being circumferentially adjustablewith reference to the other; a lever fulcrumed on the lower of said`crank pins; a link connecting one end of said lever with the upper ofsaid crank pins; an excavator scoop carried by the other end of saidlever; and conveying mechanism arranged withitsrecelvingendtotherearofthevertical through the axis of the lower ofsaid rotating elements and co-operating with said scoop at its dumpingposition to remove the dumpings ytherefrom.

15. Excavating apparatus comprising a supporting frame; an upper gearmounted on said frame; a lower gear intermeshing with said upper gearand mounted for circumferential adjustments relatively thereto; meansfor securing said lower gear in various positions of circumferentialadjustments; a crank pin on each of said gears; a lever fulcrumed on thelower oi' said crank pins; a link'connecting one end of said lever withthe upper of Isaid crank pins; and an excavator scoop can'ied by theother end of said lever.

16. Excavating apparatus comprising a supporting frame; an upper gearmounted on said frame; a lower gear intermeshing with said upper gearand mounted for circumferential adjustments relatively thereto; meansfor securing said lower gear in various positions of circumferentialadjustments; a crank pin on each of said gears; a lever iulcrumed on thelower of said crank pins; a link connecting one end of said lever withthe upper of said crank pins; an excavator scoop carried by the otherend of said lever; and conveying mechanism arranged with its receivingend to the rear of the vertical through the axis of the lower of saidrotating elements and co-operating with said scoop at its dumpingposition to remove the dumpings therefrom.

LESLIE P. GREEN.

